He is in favor of legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), which would close a loophole that allows Internet stores to avoid collecting state sales taxes if they do not have a physical presence in the state.

Becky Anderson, the owner of Anderson’s Bookshop at 123 W. Jefferson Ave. in Naperville, says she is affected personally by the loophole.

She told a Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee luncheon that customers pick her brain on book choices, then go home and buy from some other company off the Internet.

Vite said that the avoidance of sales taxes has led to brick-and-mortar establishments going out of business, which led to a loss of property taxes and added stress to the rest of a municipality’s property tax base.

He stressed to the chamber of commerce committee that collecting sales taxes online was not a tax increase, only the fulfillment of a law that was already on the books, but seldom enforced.

Vite said that Amazon has already agreed to the sales tax, but EBay was still opposed to it on the grounds that it would hurt small traders that used the service.

He estimated that Illinois alone would gain $400 million currently, with the total increasing to about $1 billion by 2020, if the Internet taxes were collected.

Dick Furstenau, candidate for the DuPage County Board and a former Naperville City Councilman, spoke in favor of the legislation, noting the stress put on local municipalities by dwindling sales tax bases.

“The only place left (to get money) is out of your house,” Furstenau said. “It’s the only place left to raise taxes.”

Vite said that the 6.25 percent sales tax from the state included a fixed portion that would be returned to municipal coffers automatically. But he said various local and county taxes would not be collected by the proposed legislation.

The Naperville Sun contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.

Already in prison for the murder of his third wife, former Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges he tried to hire a hitman to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars.

After “48 Hours” uncovered evidence that casts doubt on the verdict that sent a teacher to prison for the death of a 16-month-old boy, the Lake County Coroner was calling for authorities to reopen the case.

Facing a steady stream of criticism from the Emanuel campaign for his stance on a potential Obama Presidential Library in Chicago, challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia backed down from his opposition to building the facility on public park land.

Video News

CBS Sports Radio and TPC Las Vegas want to send you to the ultimate sports getaway right on the Vegas Strip! Enter now through March 16th for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas during one of the biggest weekends in college basketball!